The Illustrated Book of English Nursery Rhymes: Beloved Old Rhymes for Children and Families

Nursery rhymes are often among the first stories and verses we encounter as children. They are sung beside a cot, repeated in the playground and remembered years later when we find ourselves sharing the same familiar words with another generation. Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo-Peep, Jack and Jill, Old Mother Hubbard and the Grand Old Duke of York have become enduring companions of childhood.
This Illustrated Book of English Nursery Rhymes has been created to help keep that wonderful tradition alive. Some rhymes are funny, others mysterious or delightfully nonsensical, while many preserve glimpses of an older England of kings and queens, village bells, country lanes, market days and farmyards. They do not always need to be explained. Part of their magic lies in the questions they encourage children to ask.
The illustrations offer another doorway into these curious little worlds. Why did the cow jump over the moon? Where were Jack and Jill going? Could Humpty Dumpty ever have been put together again? Such questions invite conversation, laughter and imagination, giving parents an opportunity to offer their own interpretation—or simply to ask, “What do you think happened?”
Above all, this is a book to be shared. Read the rhymes aloud, sing the familiar ones and allow children to discover their own favourites. If, many years from now, a child who first encounters these verses here finds themselves reciting one to a child of their own, then these little rhymes will have achieved something rather special.